The Crook and the Charlatan
by Servile
Summary: Yuna knew what she had to do, but it was just so hard to accept. Especially with that missing girl no where to be found.


_Disclaimer_;; I do not own FFX-2 or any of the characters associated with it. This is just for entertainment purposes only. 

_Spoiler Alert_;; Slight spoilers later on, even though it doesn't follow the storyline of FFX-2 exactly.

**PROLOGUE:** **_Meeting the Mountebank_**

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Smooth yet rough is the pavement. Limp and erect are the buildings. Taste of blueberry pie smoked the air as the silent chewing of residents gazed about. A furry fiend scurried across the rough cement then hopped onto the smooth sidewalk. Wiping it's dirty claws with sharp white nails and browned out prints. Whiskers as long as a pencil yet as shot as a dime. Rough the snout but smooth the hair. Upright the nostrils but limp the eyelids. A soft scuttle of feet and then a hiding place was found, so he could hide from the boring people. The fluffy creature slid easily into the sewers and was never seen again.

Evening rolled around, and with it the sun stroked the ground and illuminated the buildings. The ocean breathed in a darker life and the seagulls were silenced one more. Another night was approaching and that meant another festive party of beer and high heels and the smell of cologne.

The two figures walked to their destination. The brown haired one was silent, the blond haired one was not. Every step the blond haired one took, the smaller brown haired figure took two. The boy stared at the shorter girl, admiring her features and the way her chest slightly bounced as she walked. Although it was lovely to look at, the older boy named Brother looked away. For his respect was higher than what some people thought.

The girl titled Yuna noticed it, stiffly. She looked up at the other figure with slight annoyance. She didn't want to be here, but she had to. She didn't want to go to this event in Luca, but she had to. She didn't want to be Brother's date and act like she loved alcohol and lace, but she had to. She didn't want to get tangled up with Brother, but she knew she already did. Ever since her last relationship with Tidus and Lenne's infamous boyfriend of Shuyin she realized that feelings are like pieces of rope. Too many misunderstandings will create too many knots. Some knots can be untangled, but there are knots that cannot be. Yuna knew, and that's why she didn't want to get involved.

When Yuna walked she had to take two extra steps to keep up with Brother, mostly due to the restricting fabric that was draped over her so elegantly. She swore that if she jumped, the wind would be enough to carry her away like a balloon in the starry night sky. The vibrant hues of blue and white smothered her arms and blanketed itself over her chest. The corset she was wearing underneath made her waist look even smaller, and her chest gently pushed themselves out from the suffocating garment. Her swift pace to keep up with Brother made everything move, and that's why he had been staring.

Her shoes didn't help her in this situation either, the height of the heel making every step for her a challenge. Hell this whole night would be a challenge for her, and she sighed internally for not being able to say no. The pocketbook that matched the dress so heavenly was clung to her side and devastatingly reminded Yuna of the mission that she agree'd to do tonight.

_"Are you sure?" Brother said as he placed his hand gently on Yuna's shoulder._

_"Yes." Was her slightly inaudible reply. Inside she was shaking, but she knew she had to be strong. She wanted this for herself, but it was so hard for her to accept._

"Yuna?" Brother looked behind his shoulder, noticing that Yuna had stopped dead in her tracks. Her head was straight ahead, and her eyes didn't blink.

"Yuna.. We're almost there." Brother walked over slowly and then placed his hands on both of her shoulders. He could feel her trembling underneath him, her composure was slowly starting to break.

"I...I don't t-think I can-" She spoke rapidly but was shushed by Brother's gentle voice. He leaned in close and embraced her, he made note of the corset and made sure to not crush her under his strong clasp. They stayed like this for a moment, her standing there staring ahead and him shushing her and swaying slightly back and worth. The night brought a slight chill and Yuna could hear the laughter of people, clatter of footsteps, playing of music and then the spilling of beer.

"Brother.." She finally spoke, lifting her head up off of his dry cleaned suit and looking into his eyes. She could see guilt in there, and cursed herself for unintentionally blaming him for what she was feeling right now.

"I'm scared... What if I mess up.. What if he-" her sentence was cut off yet again as Brother placed his finger over her lips slowly. He firmly concentrated on her eyes and only her eyes. His determination for tonight was bigger than her fear and he knew that deep inside there was no other way to do what they were about to do.

"He will not touch you." His voice was a deep rumble and strength emanated from it, a side of Brother that Yuna barely saw. When he was serious he wouldn't mess around, his face would tighten and his chest would rise slowly. Yuna could tell that he would pull out all the stops to protect her. But the security he offered wasn't enough to secure her trembling heart.

"I am not a coward." Yuna said out loud, but mostly speaking to herself. She needed all the motivation in the world tonight, because this would be the start of it all.

"Come then." Brother said, leading Yuna to the stadium that was placed so significantly in the middle of Luca. She followed him briskly, with a little more confidence in her step. She knew what had to be done, and she was going to do it.

The two figures walked on, denying the chills that the night tried to give. When it was cold like this, Yuna usually sat by the fire in her hut in Besaid, listening to the buzzing of cicadas and chirping of crickets. But now all she heard was the bustling of the party ahead of her and the gentle breeze that the ocean gave off. Gentle-almost unnoticed-and very cold.

When she turned the corner of the walkway with Brother, she noticed a poster sleeping on the ground. Disappointedly she saw that it was the same poster she had seen plenty of times prior. Even though, her curiosity took the better of her and she swept it up, hoping that maybe a small detail had changed, or maybe she could re-read the wording and think of something else to aid her.

_"These missing persons posters are everywhere.. Someone must be really looking for her. Poor girl._" Yuna said internally, thinking to herself about the contents of the poster. It read

MISSING PERSON REPORT

Missing from: Spira

Date missing: September 21, 2014.

Hair: Golden blond, Eyes: Green

Height: 158 cm, Race: Al Bhed

Age: 17, Name: Rikku

Yuna read the information as if for the first time, scanning over every detail as if her life depended on it.

_"Looks like she's been gone for months... I wonder what happened to her."_ Yuna kept thinking while staring at the poster. Missing people were rare in Spira, for everyone knew everyone. She couldn't understand how someone could just drop off the face of Spira.

Unbeknownst to Yuna, Brother had not stopped this time to see if she was alright, but instead kept on walking. She quickly glanced at Brother and back at the poster, then folded up the paper and stuffed it neatly in her pocketbook. She knew it was going to be a long night.

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A/N;; Whats gucci? SO I've been getting inspiration for this plot that I cooked up recently and I HOPE I can go somewhere with it and build up suspense and make a climax and whatever because its not working so well for me in Heart of Stone. I feel like I'm just writing that and not going anywhere with it. Anyways, I dont want to give too much away for this prologue and just sort of leave things up to you guys and your imagination. Review if you would like, or tell me what you think Yuna is about to go do. Or what kind of job she has now. Chao✧ʕ̢̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩·͡˔·ོɁ̡̣̣̣̣̩̩̩̩✧


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